Everyday Lemon Bars

The gluttonous side of me came out this week as I made these lemon bars TWICE this week. In my defense we had friends over for dinner so I only had a piece from the first batch. One square just isn't enough, therefore I had to make another batch the next day, and well I had more of that batch myself.... 

You'll find that the crust is SUPER easy to make, just add all the dry crust ingredients into a food processor (we have a mini food processor and that worked just fine) pulse until blended, then add the butter and two tablespoons of water, pulse some more and viola you're done! It's THAT easy.

After the crust has chilled in the fridge and then baked for 40 minutes you can combine the filling and pour on top of the crust and bake for 12 minutes. Done.

This will soon be a favorite for gluten and non-gluten people everywhere!

*Make sure to use parchment paper as this will help with getting the lemon bars out nicely. 

** Use GF flour that you like, I tend to use tapioca flour and sorghum sweet because I have that on hand, but I will soon be testing out almond flour more. 

Everyday Lemon Bars

Ingredients:
(Crust)
- 1/2 cup of sorghum sweet flour (you can use white rice flour or almond flour or any flour really)
- 1/4 cup of tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup of corn starch
- 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of xantham gum (not needed if you use GF all purpose flour)
- 1 stick of cold butter (cut up into smaller pieces)
(lemon goodness filling)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
- 2 large eggs (I like to have them at room temp)
- 2 tablespoons of gf flour (I used tapioca flour, but you can use all purpose or almond or rice)
- 1/4 cup of lemon juice (1lemon)
- powdered sugar for decorative dusting.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9inch baking pan with parchment paper. You'll need two pieces that hang over about an inch or two. Place them criss cross in the pan for easy removal.
1. Mix all the flour, powered sugar, corn starch, and xantham gum in the food processor. After it is blended well, add cut up cold pieces of butter. Pulse until there are no longer any large pieces of butter.
2. Add two tablespoons of water and pulse for another minute until the dough starts to form.
3. Take dough out of the food processor and roll into a ball. Place in pan and use fingers to push the dough as evenly as possible to the sides.
4. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
5. After the 15 minutes, place in oven and bake for 40 minutes.
6. While the crust is baking. Add the 3/4 granulated sugar with the 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and mix together in a bowl. Set aside.
7. After the crust is done baking, remove from oven, and set aside to cool as you combine the filling.
8. Whisk eggs, lemon juice, and the 2 tablespoons of flour into the bowl that contains the sugar and lemon zest.
9. Whisk until completely smooth. Pour over crust.
10. Bake for another 14 minutes, gently shake the pan to make sure the filling does not jiggle anymore.
11. Set aside to cool. Then chill for 2 hours.
12. Dust with powdered sugar and ENJOY!!!

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